CASE STUDIES
Boots on the Right Track with SmartTrack - Boots have declared war on shrinkage with the deployment of an innovative CCTV system and a sophisticated stock handling system at their Store Service Centre in Nottingham.
The creation of the new Boots Stores Service Centre is due to be completed by early 2009 A significant part of that investment has been made in the form of a Witron Dynamic Picking System. This will allow Boots to move closer to their ambition of being able to despatch 100% of the goods designated for each of its nationwide chain of over 2300 stores on time and in full.
Distribution centres will always strive for what seems to be just out of reach, i.e. a high level of efficiency where the right goods are always in the right bins in the correct quantities so that they can be picked and delivered on time. If that does not happen, for a retail business such as Boots, the result can be a frustrated store manager, a disappointed customer and a lost sales opportunity. Whether the missing stock has been stolen or just mislaid because of human error, the impact on the profitability of the company is substantial.
John Angus, Supply Chain Profit Protection Manager for the Logistics Loss Prevention division of Boots said: "Even though we have highly trained and motivated security officers on site, CCTV was always going to play a major role in helping us keep theft to a minimum. Having a security guard patrolling areas of the warehouse is useful but once he walks away from an area would-be thieves can take their time to help themselves to valuable merchandise."
For a distribution facility the size of the Boots Store Service Centre, John estimated that 1600 cameras would have to be deployed to cover all the gangways and product picking areas. "Apart from the huge cost, I just don’t see how we could have expected our control room operators to effectively manage so many cameras," added John. "There was also the issue of "Big Brother". The 1600 cameras which would have been spaced just a few feet apart from each other would have created an oppressive atmosphere of mistrust. This would have been unfair on the vast majority of Boot’s colleagues at the site who are honest and trustworthy."
The total project cost of installing all of the tracks is just a fraction of the investment that would have been needed to install a conventional CCTV system with 1600 cameras. Apart from the cost of the 1600 cameras, there would have been huge costs involved in running cables to each camera and a much higher number of digital video recorders would have been required. There is an added bonus in that the coverage and flexibility achieved when employing the SmartTrack camera system often removes the cost of installing temporary covert cameras in later identified problem areas.
"Although we are primarily investing in the track systems for security reasons, they also provide invaluable management information and as an added bonus assist with health and safety issues," said Tim Clark. "The system’s software for example can direct the camera to where a fire alarm detector may have triggered and the cameras can also monitor colleagues who are working near potentially dangerous machinery to ensure there is compliance with Boots strict on-site safety rules."